If you search for the word “WMV” in AppStore, right the first (in the US AppStore) or the second (in some other, non-US AppStores) hit will be the $1.99 WMV Player:

(US appstore (as with all the images in this roundup, click it to get the full-sized, full-quality one!))

(non-US appstore – note that I've also purchased, as with all the other iPad media players for my multimedia article series, AVPlayerHD from the same store. Interestingly, iTunes still lists the price instead of “Downloaded” or “Update” here.)

So, this app is immensely popular. Is it that good, then?

The answer is no. Actually, it's one of the least-recommended.

Why? It's simple. It doesn't have any local, native WMV playback capabilities. It just uploads (!!) the WMV it receives via “Open In” (when the WMV file is passed from another app) to its server, converts it to another format playable by WMV Player and sends it back.

What's the problem, then?

- First and foremost, it can only process files up to 50 Mbytes in size. It's OK if you would only use it to play back WMV files received in mails or the clips you download off the Web are small(ish). However, this alone makes it impossible to play back pre-existing, large(r) files you transfer to the app via iTunes' File Sharing.

- The videos it produces are of quite bad quality. For example, HERE is the converted version of my standard test video (original HERE). The mere fact that the converted version is one-third the size of the original already shows it, to put it mildly, isn't of the best quality. And it indeed isn't. It's pretty awful. (Just compare the image quality of two files in a decent desktop player like VLC!)

- You can't convert Full HD files, even those under the 50 Mbyte limit. Unfortunately, you're only told this when the upload (which can be VERY time-consuming) is over and not beforehand. (Well, a simple resolution check should be implemented in the app to avoid having to upload high-res files. It shouldn't be that hard.)

A screenshot of the app announcing it can't convert the video (after uploading, of course):

- As it's mostly Full HD resolutions that should be converted (as the current iOS hardware is plain incapable of correctly playing back Full HD WMV footage – then, a client/server remote solution like this would indeed be a godsend!), the complete lack of Full HD support is one of the biggest problems. Should the app (that is, the server side) support it, I would even recommend this app as one that provides stuttering-less full HD playback. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

NOTE: upon finishing uploading a (compatible, that is, non-full HD) file, it automatically gets played. The video, then, is played back at 4:3 aspect ratio and vertically stretched; that is, it'll play back 16:9 (2.35:1 etc.) movies / clips distorted and you can't switch to the right aspect ratio. To play back videos at the original aspect ratio, stop playback, select saving and play the file after its download has been finished.

A sample list of the “Saved Media” screen:

Two screenshots of the aspect ratio difference between the two modes (pay particular attention to the details in the label in the bottom right corner!)

(immediate playback with awful quality)

(playing back the same converted file, after downloading it – no distortion any more, unlike with the previous image!)

NOTE 2: the server handles most possible video and audio codec (and profile) combinations: video-wise WMV1, 2 and 3 and, audio-wise, both WMA and WMA Pro are all supported. So are the Simple, Main and Advanced profiles of WMV3 – VC-1. Nevertheless, there're some special cases it won't convert files; for example, 640*480 slideshows using WMV2 streams. An example which is, by the way, is played back flawlessly in – apart from some audio stuttering in some – all(!) WMV-capable third-party players, is HERE. This is another reason you'll want to prefer a (decent) third-party player with native(!) WMV playback support to this player: it'll be able to play back these pretty common files.

Several for videos without hardware acceleration, the most important/recommended being GoodPlayer.

However, if you want to (are able to) play back hardware-accelerated iOS-native or MKV videos, you will need It's Playing - it's the only title to have audio boosting even while HW (not only the far less efficient) playback.

Hi
I just downloaded goodplayer. You are right. It does boost mp4 volumes. But it also boosted the volume of the mkv file I played as well. It's a 720p mkv file. Is that correct? Or did I misunderstand your previous post?

Hi
I just downloaded goodplayer. You are right. It does boost mp4 volumes. But it also boosted the volume of the mkv file I played as well. It's a 720p mkv file. Is that correct? Or did I misunderstand your previous post?

Volume boosting during mp4 playback means it doesn't use hardware acceleration. If you enabled it, there wouldn't be volume boosting. MKV's are always played back in software; this is why you see boosting there (too).

On the it's playing app, how do you change the aspect ratio so it works properly? I tried watching an mkv film and it had quite a big black bars at top and bottom. So I tried changing the aspect to 4:3 so it would play full screen and it actually made the video thinner and the black bars bigger. Does it depend on whether it is hardware or software decoded? Thanks.

On the it's playing app, how do you change the aspect ratio so it works properly? I tried watching an mkv film and it had quite a big black bars at top and bottom. So I tried changing the aspect to 4:3 so it would play full screen and it actually made the video thinner and the black bars bigger. Does it depend on whether it is hardware or software decoded? Thanks.

So, you want to crop off the left / right side of the video so that the image isn't distorted? (This is how, BTW, the stock Videos client zooms.)

No. When I've used other apps like av player hd or n player you can set the aspect ratio so that it plays full screen and doesn't crop off any of the video. Try it on n player. Set the aspect ratio to 4:3. I think if u tap twice on the screen it changed it too. From aspect fill to just fill. But when I try it on its playing it just makes the video smaller.

No. When I've used other apps like av player hd or n player you can set the aspect ratio so that it plays full screen and doesn't crop off any of the video. Try it on n player. Set the aspect ratio to 4:3. I think if u tap twice on the screen it changed it too. From aspect fill to just fill. But when I try it on its playing it just makes the video smaller.

Yup, It's Playing has never been able to fill in the screen without cropping (by introducing some heavy distortion). I'll send them a mail to ask when they introduce this feature.

In the meantime, want me to compile a list that do support filling? (I've already tested this - the results are already in my work-in-progress multimedia chart.)

Will do it. In the meantime, upon my request, the It's Playing folks have implemented "Fill screen" functionality. It's (a closed beta) working great on my iPad. That is, It's Playing will also support filling the screen in the AppStore version very soon.

There are three sections below. You'll want to select a title from the first one if you plan to play back your videos hardware accelerated. If you don't, the titles listed in the second section will do fine, too.

Note that I've, in parentheses, also listed the way you can make a certain player fill the screen (on an iPad).

Section 1: Both in hardware accelerated and software decoding mode:

nPlayer (stacked pages icon in the lower right corner; tap until „Fill” is displayed in the center of the screen)

Media Player PRO (was: Movie Player HD+) (tap the upper right icon until it becomes two arrows pointing to the corners of the square)

all (even free ones) versions of MoliPlayer (leftmost icon on the main control bar)

ReplayerHD Pro

TTPlayerHD (upper right icon; tap until you see „Screen Resize – Full”)

There are three sections below. You'll want to select a title from the first one if you plan to play back your videos hardware accelerated. If you don't, the titles listed in the second section will do fine, too.

Note that I've, in parentheses, also listed the way you can make a certain player fill the screen (on an iPad).

Section 1: Both in hardware accelerated and software decoding mode:

nPlayer (stacked pages icon in the lower right corner; tap until „Fill” is displayed in the center of the screen)

Media Player PRO (was: Movie Player HD+) (tap the upper right icon until it becomes two arrows pointing to the corners of the square)

all (even free ones) versions of MoliPlayer (leftmost icon on the main control bar)

ReplayerHD Pro

TTPlayerHD (upper right icon; tap until you see „Screen Resize – Full”)